As befits our name, trust is the foundation of everything we do. I therefore found fascinating the following information on the level of public trust in various types of institutions. Financial services companies were not included in this particular survey, but other polls place them at or near the bottom of industry categories.
Non-profits and foundations fare particularly well enjoying a relatively high and improving level of trust. While small businesses continue to rank highly, they suffered a very large decrease in trust in the past year. The pollsters did not provide an explanation for this outcome, but I will hazard a guess that small businesses may be unfairly taking some of the blame for the bout of inflation that we experienced in 2022 since they were forced to raise prices on most items. The media and all levels of government receive poor ratings. Particularly noteworthy is the reputation of Corporate America which is has been declining for fifty years and is now at an all-time low.
While not surprising given the division in our country, I find the low and declining levels of trust in most institutions quite discouraging.